Chapter 21 Hi mom I'm home

Ty'karus had wrapped Kelis in a blanket and used the force to levitate her off the deck. He made his way through the spaceport back to his ship. He gave a sigh of relief upon entering the cargo area. The stasis tubes were still in place. He put Kelis in place and set the controls. The effects of the drug we already in her system and would be for days after she was removed from stasis. He locked her lightsaber in his wall safe. He was about to leave the ship when a thought occurred to him. 'I need to report this capture to my master, given recent events I need to be mindful of my position.' He went to the bridge activated the security console and encoded the message.

"Greetings my master, I have collected a second and will begin work shortly. I will be going dark until I have completed this phase of my research." Short and to the point. His master would understand the message. Ty'karus also encoded the Jedi's identity. Hopefully this would be enough to solidify his position in his master's house. He could not afford to have visits from other would be Sith seeking promotion.

He locked the ship and returned to the Kelis' ship. The ramp and door locked behind him and he took a look around. There at the top of the ramp sat a neat pile of ship components and electronics. "Apprentice?" He called out. Akita appeared from one of the doorways. She held a computer data crystal in her hand.

"I take it you have had some success with your investigation?" He smiled. She chuckled in response. Something about that chuckle bothered Ty'karus. "Yes master I certainly have. Those items are similar to the ones we pulled from your ship. I think I got them all but you're welcome to check my work." She handed him the crystal. "Kelis orders." Akita's face had an odd look of concern. "Master she is here against the wishes of the council. There was also a data packet on you master. Including your alias Casarius. Names of associates and potential locations where you may be hiding." She gave him a wicked look as she handed it to him.

"I am surprised that the Jedi would have such files on someone as far down the ranks as I. Relatively speaking I am just a cog in the Sith war machine." He turned the crystal over in his hand.

"I think it was purchased master. The Jedi would have some of the information but not the specifics that are included, personal information including those of a sexual nature, names of companions you have frequented. Master you have been a bad man." She chuckled, it caused the hair on his neck to stand up.

He put the crystal in a pouch and took her by the hands. "Akita let me look at you. He reached out with the force and sent his mind into hers. He found nothing out of the ordinary, only a slight shift in her that suggested she had moved fully into the shadow. 'Is it possible that I miss her naïve spirit?' he wondered.

"Master are you ok? You have been acting different since, since we were together." Akita placed a hand on his chest. "I think we need to be mindful of each other." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, Ty'karus could tell she was searching him as he had just done to her.

"What did you mean Apprentice?" Ty'karus wanted to hear her thoughts wanted her to know that he respected her opinion.

"I meant that this path is not going to be easy, I suggest that whenever we are alone we take a few moments to check each other, we hide nothing from each other." She opened her eyes and took her hand off of his chest.

"I agree, now let's get going before something else comes up." They locked the ship and left the hangar.

It took them two hours to get to the living district, they took a local taxi out of the space port then walked the last thirty minutes. Akita was silent as the housing area came into view. The buildings were simple in design, even primitive. They were built into the sides of the cave wall. To call it a cave was an injustice. At some points the distance between the two sides was eighteen miles across. Down below a vast underground ocean. Joining it all were hundreds of manmade walk ways. Small flying vehicles ferried people through the area.

The building before them was not overly large but it was not small either, it was clearly well kept and the light emanating from inside was artificial. Ty'karus extended his senses into the house. It was larger than he expected with a number of rooms, it went deep into the cave wall. There were people in a number of the rooms as well as a larger group in the central area.

"Well go ahead." He urged her forward. "I can't. Master will you please?" she pleaded. Ty'karus stepped forward without hesitation and pushed the door chime. He could feel the tension from Akita. A moment passed and the door opened. An older Twi'lek male stood before them. He had been wearing a smile but it faded almost instantly. He bowed his head. "My lord how may I be of service?" Ty'karus was concerned by the emotion rolling off the man and wanted to defuse the situation before it escalated.

"I am looking for the Sharat clan I am here to pay my respects and ask for their hospitality, nothing more." He bowed his head slightly to the Twi'lek.

"This is the Sharat family home, my master and his family are taking the afternoon meal please come in I will tell them you are here my lord." He pulled the door open all the way and beckoned them inside. He bowed again and ran off down a short hall and darted into a side room. Ty'karus looked back and found Akita standing in the doorway. He reached out his hand and pulled her in, closing the door behind her. There was a crash of plates from the other room followed by shouting voices that pitched and stopped just as suddenly.

Ty'karus smiled. He knew it was wrong to inspire fear but he never got tired of it. A moment later a middle aged male and female Twi'lek came into view. Both were straightening their garments and whispering to each other.

Upon reaching Ty'karus they dropped to one knee with heads bowed. "Welcome to our humble home my lord. My name is Akita'Sharat this is my mate Goran'Sharat. We offer you the hospitality of our home." She said quickly her voice was stressed and fear pulsed from her.

"My name is Ty'karus, Inquisitor of the Sith, I accept your offer of hospitality, now please rise." They both got up but kept their eyes lowered. Down the hall Ty'karus could see other eyes watching them. He turned and held out his hand to Akita. She took his hand and stepped forward.

"This is my apprentice, in whom I am greatly pleased. Akita Ty. Your daughter." It took significant effort to hold in a smile. There was a brief moment of silence and then the room exploded with voices all talking at once. People came from the other rooms slowly at first then in a flood. Ty'karus counted sixteen people in the room. He stepped quietly to one side and put his back against a wall and watched.

Akita was initially dumbstruck she could only smile and hug, hug and smile. Ty'karus experienced it through her emotions, it was almost overwhelming. It took them just a few minutes to ignore the lightsaber's and the fact that she was apparently a Sith in training. 'So this is family, interesting.' He was genuinely amused and amazed all at the same time. An hour passed by all too quickly. Ty'karus finally found a place to his liking, he knelt and entered a light meditation. By the second hour he realized that the sounds of celebration were getting louder. It would not take long for the sounds to draw some attention, even if it was minor. Ty'karus wanted to let her have this time but he also knew that fun, celebration and Sith were not usually synonymous. He needed to quiet things down a bit to avoid suspicion from neighbors.

He rose from his meditation and loudly cleared his throat. At the same time he telepathically touched Akita. She immediately hurried to his side and knelt at his feet, her head lowered. The room went silent. Ty'karus leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Apprentice I am happy for you. But please make your family aware that Sith do not celebrate like this. It may be a good idea to suggest that your reputation as a Sith could suffer should a report of your behavior surface later in your career." He smiled and waved her back to her family. Akita returned to her mother and father and a moment later family members were nodding understandingly. The festivities continued but were sufficiently muted.

Ty'karus was enjoying the family reunion, He had allowed himself to sink back into a restful but light meditation, he kept his senses alert but let the sounds fade into the background. All the while he kept part of his mind watching Akita's emotions. He felt her smile so hard her face hurt, then he felt the pain in her chest as various family members talked of their lives. She had missed so much it hurt. Others told her how much they missed her and her eyes filled with tears.

Her grandmother had passed on a few years ago, Akita's mother was now the clan Matriarch. They had tried to find her but the galaxy is huge and there is little hope with the passage of so many years. There was some guilt and sorrow but it was tempered with pragmatism, slavery was a way of life it was the way that the Twi'lek people spread out across the stars. Akita spoke of her life as a Jedi, in truth her life had been filled with learning, adventure and privilege. She had wanted for nothing. When she began speaking of the Jedi a number of younger family members came out of the woodwork and sat at her feet.

They stopped her frequently with questions about the force and lightsaber's, there were endless requests to see her sabers. The older family members pulled ears or gave small smacks to the heads of those who asked. Many of the adults kept a watchful eye on Ty'karus and grew nervous when the children asked about Jedi.

Akita reached the turning point in her story, she was on a ship headed to take the Jedi trials when a Sith captured her and brought her to Ty'karus, her master. She did a very good job of telling the story embellishing some places and skipping over other elements. Ty'karus was quite impressed with her ability to hold her audience. He also noted that she managed to intimate her feelings for her master without ever saying it directly.

The hours rolled on as family members took turns reconnecting with this long lost relative. It was not often that a slave returned home in such fashion. Akita woke her master from his meditation to let him know that dinner was ready and that it would honor her family if he sat with them for the meal. Ty'karus agreed. His presence was a distraction and certainly put an air over the meal but he was accustomed to making people uncomfortable. He ate quietly nodded at questions and generally maintained an aloof mood.

Dessert was a large tray of baked foods, one of Akita's sisters was trying to handle the tray while talking to Akita, it was not going well. At one point it appeared that she was going to drop the tray. A nearby family member reached for the tray without thinking, she screamed as the tray burned her hand and the tray flew into the air as both of them lost control of it.

The tray stopped in midair, righted itself and floated over to the table. Everyone looked at Akita, her hand guiding the tray to an empty spot on the stove. The children squealed and cheered with delight. Akita's youngest sister Travene was clutching at her hand, tears rolled down her face. Akita gave Ty'karus a look and he nodded. "How bad is it Travene?" Akita asked. Her mother was wrapping a cold cloth around Travene's hand. "It's going to need attention or it will scar." She was trying to comfort her daughter.

"Travene, let my master take a look." The room quieted, it was clear that none of the adults thought it was a good idea, the children were all quiet waiting to see what happened. To them it was a story book come to life, playing out in their house. Ty'karus waved the girl to him. She approached as if he were a wild animal that may at any moment snap her hand clean off.

Slowly she stretched out her arm, her face was knotted in pain. Ty'karus gently removed the wet cloth and surveyed the damage, it was a second degree burn and it would normally require medical attention to prevent scaring. It was all together possible that even with treatment there would be a reduction in functionality. In spite of modern technology, medical care was not readily available to all.

Ty'karus pulled on the force, reached into the girls hand and felt the damaged tissue, he rebuilt it from the inside out. He completed the work and double checked it before letting go of her hand. Travene flexed her fingers and immediately held her hand up for everyone to see. They crowded around her and congratulated her as if she had repaired the burn herself. Ty'karus chuckled to himself.

His minor miracle elevated him in the eyes of his hosts but no so much that they were comfortable talking with him. There were a few more words sent in his direction an occasional smile or a nod but all in all he was left alone, which suited him fine.

Evening time and the lights in the house were changed to a deep orange from the bright yellow of the day. It had to do with the fact that the city was underground and did not see the sun. Akita's mother came to him and insisted that they spend the night unless they had to leave, He accepted and she showed him to the guest room.

Ty'karus sat on the bed and continued his meditation while he waited. A few hours later Akita opened the door and slipped into the room. She was a glow with emotion. She knelt down beside him on the bed, she curled up and lay her head in his lap. "Thank you master. You have no idea how much this has meant to me." She sighed clearly exhausted. They settled in for the night.

They spent the next four days with Akita's family. Ty'karus would slip out each morning and travel through the city and check on the ships. On the second day he received a brief response from his master. "Message received, continue research." Ty'karus had also arranged for both ships to be fueled and supplied.

On day four Ty'karus had completed a memory dump of Kelis C2-N2 droid and then did a full reset. He was reviewing the contents of Kelis quarters when a coded transmission was received. He transferred the file to his ship and set one of the computers to decode it. He returned to the Sharat home early in the evening.

Akita was sitting in the main room talking quietly with her mother and father when Ty'karus entered the room. He greeted them and took a seat nearby. Akita moved beside him and knelt at his feet 'When I kneel at your feet without being asked master you will know that I love you.' he recalled.

"Apprentice we need to be going soon." He said quietly. Akita nodded and moved back to sit with her parents. They spent the next hour making their good byes. There were tears and lots of hugs. Ty'karus could not help but feel awkward standing off to one side watching as he was.

Akita came to him she nodded letting him know she was ready. He stepped away from the wall and moved to the doorway. Akita's parents were waiting at the door to offer their respects to him and say a final goodbye. Ty'karus held out a small document pouch. "This is for you. For your family." Akita's mother took the pouch and opened it. A Hutt credit stick fell out into her hand. She looked back at Akita then Ty'karus.

"This payment acts as a contract between us." He started. Akita'Sharat checked the amount marked on the stick and her eyes widened. "My lord this is ten thousand credits, for what?" She asked in a whisper.

"I am Sith, it is considered weakness to help people as I would help you." Akita looked at her parents her Lekku twitched and moved, without saying a word she silently told them. "for Sith weakness is death." They signaled their understanding. Ty'karus, seeing the silent conversation concluded, continued. "So if your family is ever in need of assistance you will send word to me through my house staff, the contact info is in the package. You will tell them that you are willing to sell either or both of Akita's sisters to me. I will send you credit under the guise of purchase." He was careful about his tone and the words he used.

"My lord this is more than enough to buy..." He cut her off. Ty'karus leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Among my order I am known for my appreciation of Twi'lek women." Akita's mother blushed, her father gave him a stern but understanding look. "That I turned your daughter, a Jedi to my service is also known. If you ever have a need you will reach out to me. The Sith will understand my desire to purchase your daughters, it will be seen as nothing more than proof of my appetite. Do you understand?" Ty'karus was wondering if he had ever had a more uncomfortable conversation. 'Being nice should not be this embarrassing, its no wonder Sith frown upon it.' he thought.

Akita's parents shook their heads. They thanked him repeatedly for his patronage. Akita kissed her parents goodbye and they stepped back out into the street.

"Master I don't know what to say. What you have done will secure my family for years. Thank you." Her voice was strained, she was near tears.

"I can't take all the credit." He gave her a wide smile, with his hood up the smile was practically evil. "I found a set of Republic credit sticks on Kelis, part of her funds for her work with the bounty hunter, I would imagine. What I gave your parents was only part of it." He smiled at her. Akita was silent for a moment then burst out laughing.

"What's next master?" Akita asked as they walked away from her parent's home. "We are headed for Nar Shadda. I want to sell the Jedi corvette and perhaps buy another less noticeable one. If we can do that I will put mine in storage or return it to my home. We can then travel without drawing attention to ourselves.

Ty'karus used his comm unit to summon a taxi and they headed back to the spaceport.